4 years earlier

After the Victoria Marathon, I had one objective. We arrived back at the hotel...rather, I hobbled back...I hopped online and immediately registered for Boston.

And I waited. Now after a few weeks, I received official confirmation. I'm registered for the 110th Boston Marathon on April 17, 2006.

I still can't believe it, really. Almost 4 years earlier to the day of that race, I entered my first official race. A recreational runner, I was invited to join a friend for the 2002 Vancouver Sun Run. A 10k race. I had no clue what 10k meant in terms of running. Was that far? Was that stupid far? I just had no clue. But what the hell? We joined a training program and I took to it fast.

Every morning before work, I was up in the dark, slogging thru snow to get in all my training runs. I surprised myself. I loved the solitude of running. I loved hitting the road on my own in the quiet of the morning. But more than anything, I loved that I was doing it towards a single goal. Run a 10k.

Being my first race, I had no clue what represented a good time. I looked up the winning times from past years...under 30 minutes. Okay, so I'll be significantly slower than that. But how much slower? An hour? I asked experienced runners and they offered up reasonable goals for me. Breaking an hour seemed to be the consensus. That'd be a good goal. So in the back of my head, I decided I must shatter that goal. I thought I'd go for sub-50 minute. Ultimately though, I had no clue. I'd never run the distance.

The day arrived and that was a thrill in itself. There's something truly humbling about being in a race of that size...Over 45,000 participants jammed a 6 lane road in downtown Vancouver. Looking behind me, I was in awe of the mass of colour all ready to lumber thru 10km.

The horn went and I made my way towards the finish for my first official race time: 45:59. Just enough to claim a 45 minute 10k!

From there, I was hooked. I began tackling as many 10k races as I could manage. I moved on to half marathons and realized the extra distance actually felt great in my legs. Like I was just getting started. After my 3rd half marathon, I had my eye on marathons.

Marathons were the magic pinnacle. If there was any race to tackle, it was the marathon. A test of so much more than just your physical strength. The marathon challenges what you're made of.

Having run most of my first races much better than I expected, I set a bold goal for my first marathon...qualify for Boston in my first race. I "trained" for the race. I ran 3 times a week and hit most of my long runs. It was a lacklustre regime but I still felt reasonably strong.

Not surprisingly, I ran strong in the first half and then burned out at the 19 mile mark. I somehow managed to finish with 3:37, a very respectable first marathon. But I was depressed. I'd missed my goal.

I then spent the next year tackling marathons, trying to hit that one mark...a 3:20 Boston qualifying time. 3 marathons and a year and a half later, I've done it.

And it's Boston in april..